A social-networking site or service on the Internet (e.g., FACEBOOK®, TWITTER®, or LINKEDIN®) may have multiple users, each of whom maintains his own personal profile or home page. On his personal home page or within his profile, a user may specify information about himself. For example, the user may specify information about his relationships with other users of the social-networking site. That is, the user may maintain a list of other users to whom he is connected. In addition, the user may maintain a list of other users that he is following. The user's home page or personal profile information may indicate the other users with whom he is connected, the other users that he is following, and the other users who are following him.
In the context of a social-networking site, a designation of a first user as a “connection” of a second user may imply that the first user personally knows the second user. A designation of a first user as a “follower” of a third user may imply that the first user has specified an interest in being notified of the activities of the third user, regardless of whether the first user knows the third user personally. Via the user's home page or personal profile, the user may also specify information about his appearance (e.g., one or more photos of himself), his current status (e.g., what he is currently doing), his current company position or title, his work history or experience, his educational background (e.g., schools he has attended or degrees he has earned), his favorite websites, his contact information (e.g., phone numbers, email addresses, web sites, and so on), his personal interests, and so on. On his personal home page, the user may also share information, including an idea, a link (e.g., Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) to an Internet resource, an article, and so on with the general public or selected people.